Former captain of the senior national football team, the Black Stars, Stephen Appiah has described Ghana’s qualification and participation at the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany as the right time for the country to be at the world stage.
Speaking on GTV Sports+ program, ‘TIME WITH THE CAPTAINS’, the former Hearts of Oak star player said: “looking at the circumstances at the time in Ghana football, the country had great players before our generation but for 48 years, Ghana couldn’t go to the World Cup and we all know that the World Cup is the biggest stage in world football and every player wants to be there.”
“So looking at the quality and unity among our generation, I always say the timing was really really right for us to be at the World Cup and in no better year than 2006 in Germany.”
According to the ex-Juventus Star man, he was particularly happy and felt proud because after leading Ghana to the 2006 World Cup, Ghana didn’t just add up to the numbers but gave good account.
Stephen Appiah is first captain of the Black Stars to qualify Ghana to play on the biggest stage in world football, the FIFA World Cup.
In 2006, Ghana were the only African side to advance to the Second Round of 2006 FIFA World Cup and were the sixth nation in a row from Africa to progress beyond the group stages of the World Cup. FIFA ranked Ghana 13th out of the 32 countries who competed in the tournament.
After excelling at Accra Hearts of Oak, Appiah traveled abroad to Italy to join Udinese in the Italian Serie A before joining Parma in the same league.
After a little dipping in form, Stephen Leroy Appiah joined Brescia on loan where he found his form again and signed for Juventus, “the Old Lady” of Serie A, where he became a great asset to the team in UEFA Champions League before traveling to Istanbul to join Fenerbahce S.K., where he played three seasons before returning to Italy to play for bologna, Cesena and Vojvodina.
Stephen Leroy Appiah, born (December 24, 1980), is a Ghanaian retired footballer who played as a midfielder. Appiah was a member of the Ghana national team, which he has represented at the youth, Olympic, and senior levels. He captained Ghana at their World Cup debut in 2006 and was a member of their squad for the 2010 World Cup.
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Story filed by Jacob Narh Nortah.
Twitter handle: @NarhNortah
